Befallen
by spirit-mage-234
Summary: After years under constant battle with the local fanatics, Battousai finally seeks the perfect revenge - through the fanatic leader's daughter. One-shot.


**Befallen**

**_I call myself the "Gotik Madame of Vampires"; but I'm not that of Rurouni Kenshin, so I don't own it._**

**Warnings: Blood and violence**

Just from looking at the dusk sky, ever darkening with the gray and purple mammatus which loomed over the stars and dwindling moon, one could tell that on this autumn night, souls would fall, death would crash, and lives would be reborn from the blood.

Heaps of smoke and embers crackled in the town square where Koshijirou gathered his posse of vampire fanatics, on the night that he hoped would be the night to serve the killing blow to the fiends that have plagued his village for too long.

Vampires.

The living nightmares that have plagued the villages of Romania for centuries.

_Or maybe, that is what the people were programmed to think by their radical, paranoid-driven spokespersons_, thought the shadow in a dark alley ever so near the town square where Koshijirou began another booming rally.

"My fellow villagers!" Koshijirou began, "for too long now, the vampires have walked in our midst undetected, feeding off of our energy and blood. They claimed to have never taken the blood of a human, though we have seen countless brutal attacks against our own! We have already counted sixteen of ours have fallen victim to their plague of evil, bitten and mutilated! How many more of our friends, wives, and children will fall victim their bloodlust!? As we speak, our villages has fallen to the vampire's curse, their souls and blood being sucked from their body day by day until they are nothing but a husk! Surely it is the vampires who are doing this, and surely - with your help - we will eradicate their pestilance, tonight! Are you with me, my friends?! We have already hunted and exorcised many of their fiendish kind! Now is the night we take back our village, once and for all!!"

Jeers and cries came from the applaud of men at the rally, waving their torches and pitchforks, stakes and spears, around in the air. His clan of vampire slayers riled up for the nightly slaughter, Koshijirou proudly lead the mob out of the village, toward the forest at the foot of the mountains.

The dark shadow which was Battousai emerged from the alley, his golden eyes shining with anger, but formost, amusement, most likely toward the foolish man's speech. With the platform abandoned, Battousai walked toward it, stepping up the wooden steps to the scaffold, which over-looked the village. Normally, even at this hour, the streets would still be quite active with the nightlife. Not anymore though. The city was quite dead in the dark. Everybody was locked up in their homes until sunrise, too scared to venture out. Battousai smirked at the evidence of mass hysteria, all caused by the feud between he and the humans.

_Sanosuke, are you there? _Battousai said in his mind.

_I'm here Kenshin. What's happening on your front? _a laid back voice said in response no more than a few seconds after Battousai sent his first message out. Battousai frowned at the use of his first persona at such a critical time. He has not been the gentle darkstalker for many weeks now.

_Notify Aoshi to bring his group to lie and wait at the edge of the forest. You stay and protect the village with Saito in case his men come in from the east and west. I'll finish up here._

No other response was heard from Sanosuke's end. Battousai didn't need another response, nor did he have to give another message.

"You led me to this ultimatum, Koshijirou," Battousai said under his breath, malice intent present in his voice.

Truely; Battousai hadn't wanted things to escalate this far up, but destiny prevailed in its cruel manner.

It was so very odd how things changed from what they used to be, particulary how the vampires and humans lived in unknown harmony for centuries. Battousai's clan had lived at the base of these towering mountains - which lay parallel to the village to the south - for generations, and not once in all of those long years had a vampire from his clan ever fed fatally upon a human. In order to maintain the peace and secracy between both parties, all vampires kept to a code: a code that forbade them from killing their prey, unless of course, said prey was considered "atrocious" and surely wouldn't be missed after such justice was served, or if they threatened their existance of secrecy. The code was honored by all and helped maintain the peace between the worlds of light and shadow.

But the flaw lay in the way their code was performed; or, who it was performed on, because little did the vampires know that one of their own could be responsible for their downfall.

He did it out of nowhere, Udo Jin-e. He talked on and on about how vampires were the supreme beings on the planet, and that humans and all creatures - natural and supernatural - should bow down before them. He was the pretador; they were the prey. And the prey always ended up losing.

_We should have done differently_, Battousai thought to himself as he looked back on the chosen approach to solve the Jin-e situation. Although it would have been wise to have silenced him forever, Battousai couldn't bear to cause the death of one of his clan, so instead he requested the rest of the council to put Jin-e under constant surveillence, in order to make sure he did not stray from the village or cause any malice for that matter. They thought that they were at ease with Jin-e under the watch of one of their gaurds, and they were able to settle their hearts that nothing would else would happen.

Then the body of the gaurd was found, his neck twisted so far out of place. He hadn't even known what hit him, when Jin-e struck.

His trail went dead cold, until the bodies of several villagers were found, mutilated and drained of blood.

The clan never found Jin-e, to smite him with certain justice. Battousai swore he'd find him and settle the score. But Jin-e had left enough for the clan to deal with after his brutal killing spree. The countryside was now in total hysteria over blood-sucking demons that roamed the darkness, preying on the innocent and pure at heart (though every kind was a victim at Jin-e's fangs). Once local clergymen were confident that the maliciousness was the work of the "devil's spawns", groups of villagers set out to purge the countryside of the vampires, burning forests, slaughtering any innocent vampire that they found with stakes, garlic, beheading, and the sort. Entire clans of vampires were on the verge of complete desecration from these vampire hunts.

But the vampire kind wouldn't dare be seen as the evil but victimized party. Many dropped the code that separated yet protected both kinds for centuries. Now when a vampire fed, they sucked their victims dry, and when a human crossed their path, that human would never finish the walk down their chosen path. Bloodshed reigned on both sides, night after night. But not all of the vampires chose the darker path. Some such as Battousai's clan wanted nothing more than to live their life without interference, especially since the mayhem was caused by a vampire of their kin. Battousai with his top three comrades - Sanosuke, Aoshi, and Saito - as well as the rest of their clan's council, watched over their small, tight-knit clan like hawks. No one was allowed in or out of their village, and hopefully, they would remain undetected long enough for them to scout out a new, safer territory on the other side of the mountains.

_But Tomoe._

The sound of his wife's name going through his mind caused Battousai's mental voice to crackle for the first time since - since the night.

The night his wife was viciously murdered by a group led by Koshijirou, the preachy, heratical, bigot of the closest human village, the village that Jin-e attacked first.

Tomoe was such a kind and gentle heart, though she appeared like an ice queen upfront. Her icy persona would just melt when you gave the chance to talk and get to know her. Battousai would not have been able to refer himself as "Kenshin" if it wasn't for her: he sheathed the rage he entrapped in his heart after his parents were killed, in much of the same matter as the killings of the day were conducted. She was his first love - his only love as far as he was concerned about the bleak future.

_And those bastard villagers took advantage of her kindness_, Battousai thought angrily, his fists tightening.

A small posse of villagers - led by Koshijirou - picked up the common traveling trails of the clan. They became affiliated with the common passerbyers - Battousai and Tomoe included. The two held compassionate conversations with one another: about their long, life together, and their future, which Tomoe hoped would include children. Tomoe loved children. The children within the clan might have been edgy around her frozen figure, but the ice around her eventually melted when they became accustomed to her. Tomoe would have been a fine mother if she had the chance; she could sense a child crying a mile away.

And that was how Koshijirou lured her out.

What kind of a man would use an innocent to lure another innocent out of safety? Who would tell a frightened child to go into the vacinity of the oh-so-hated blood-sucking scoundrels' village in order to brutally slay the wife of a powerful vampire - who wanted no confrontations with humans in the first place - who could never deny any child, human or vampire, in need?

Battousai thought that when he cradled the decapitated body of his beloved on that night.

They had first shot an arrow at her to distract her, in order for one of Koshijirou's goons to grab her from behind so that Koshijirou could drive the wooden stake through her heart - Tomoe's warm heart. The posse then decapitated her so that she had no chance of rising, even though a stake through the heart was enough. Their calling card was engraved on her chest: a cross. How dare they scribe the sanctity of their Lord on the brutal murder of a woman! She may have been vampire - THEY may have been vampire - but the two people where really alike in every morality: they kill when they felt it was just. Only humans used the Will of the Lord as their license to kill.

His eyes were electric amber when he reminisced about that night. All he could see through his tunnel vision was the order to avenge, slaughter, and maim. No; Tomoe would not have wanted it, but Battousai sure has hell did.

And tonight, Koshijirou the Vampire Cleanser would feel the pain of a thousands stakes driving through his black heart when he saw his dear family mutilated and drained of blood by the vampire he never expected to retaliate.

Was it a reckless move? Perhaps. But Battousai planned to end it tonight. After this attack and ambush, he and the rest of the council would move the clan to the far reaches of the Carpathians, where no man dared to trek. If there was a slim chance, they would encounter the progenitor of this turmoil, but chances were Jin-e was already gone from the region, striking terror on the opposite side of the world...

Clearing his mind of distraction, Battousai's eyes switched to his normal shade of amber, though still furious in appearance. He made his way toward the dark, labyrinths that were alley ways and the puddle-filled pavement that were streets with ease and stealth. He finally approached the home of Koshijirou, a rather comfortable home that housed a monster. No doubt he had a wife that practically worshipped the ground he stood on, though he did not doubt his wife's love for him. Tomoe loved him with ease.

And then she was taken from him.

And Koshijirou would be mutual with the feeling.

Unlike the other houses, lined side by side with only a sliver of yard and alley in between, the lower rooms were still lit, with a single room on the second floor only dimly. Battousai crept just beside the window, still invisible to any creature, as he listened to the humans inside.

"Do not worry Kana; Koshijirou will be back soon, just like all of the other times," one lady's voice said.

"I know," the second woman, clearly the one named "Kana" said. "But he is so drawn into these hunts, close to hysterical. He hasn't even been around to care for Kaoru."

Battousai then began to listen more intently to the conservation of the dwellers at the mention of Koshijirou having a daughter.

"How is she, my cousin?" a young man asked, directed toward Kana. A struggled cry was heard.

"She grows weaker everyday, our daughter. She can barely eat on her own, let alone stand up. The first thing she does when she wakes up is cough up blood, so much blood." There was a pause, followed by the sound of Kana dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "Koshijirou is convinced that Kaoru has succumbed to the 'vampire's curse': he's sure of it. Five others have died from similar symptoms since this happening has taken place, so Koshijirou as sent for a spiritual man who can help subdue the curse until Koushijirou eradicates the cause." Just listening to the tone of her voice at the end told Battousai that she was just as hysterical as her heratical husband. He almost pitied her, crying for their ailing daughter. Of course, Battousai inwardly laughed at their stupidity.

_Only humans will blame a death as common as consumption on that of a supernatural happening, _Battousai deducted. As if on cue, Battousai heard the nearing footsteps of the "doctor", or rather, a quack who enacted his own form of vampirism on gullible humans who were suceptable to paranoia by handing out "mystical" cures that were nothing more than bittersweet placebos.

Battousai smirked viciously, even though no one could see it. _I guess, in a way, I'll be proving their "vampire's curse" correct. _He then ducked in the alley and waited for the quack to get just within distance of hypnotic call...

...in order to snap the poor fellow's neck.

_So easy, _Battousai complimented himself, though it was a dead compliment. He really didn't want to kill, to kill the family that was just going about their nightly routine. But Koshijirou's insolence left no choice for him. So Battousai stripped the man of the his outwear and replaced it with his own, leaving his black coat on a nearby fence. He then placed the man's hat on his head, tucking his long, red locks inside, and took up his medical bag.

The play was about to start.

He rapped three times on the door before he recieved an answer. An aged but well kept woman answered the door, whom Battousai expected to be the one named "Kana".

"Oh, you must be the doctor," she greeted. She expected then doctor to look her in the eye, but Battousai avoided eye-contact by keeping his face tucked away in the collar of the cloak.

"That I am. Sorry for the late arrival," Battousai replied in the most acceptable, doctorly voice possible. "May I come in?"

"Of course," Kana said, stepping aside, granting him access to their home.

One cordial invite and one step over the threshold was all a vampire needed to gain entrance to anybody's home. They were a very humble race if one got to know them. But there would be none of that in the minutes to come.

Once inside and offered a clear view, the inside of the home was cozy, but lacked the warmth to complete the scenario. These people were obviously stricken by the hysteria, shutting themselves from the outside world, rarely allowing anybody to enter their home in fear of attack; it was a surprise that they allowed Battousai in under his facade (little did they know...).

Standing by the fire place was a young man, about sixteen or seventeen in age. He had rusty blonde hair and was thin and lanky. On the nearby couch was the other woman, around the same age as the Kana, but more youthful looking. The young man bore a resemblance to the younger woman, who bore a stricking resemblance to Kana. He granted that the two woman where sisters, the boy being the younger woman's son.

"Can I take you're cloak, sir?" Kana asked, outreaching her hands intending to obtain his cloak and hat.

"No thank you ma'am. I am actually quite cold without it on," Battousai replied.

"Oh. Well would you like some tea or a seat, perhaps?" She almost insisted, not intending to look like a rude housewife. Battousai just shook his head from under the collar of the cloak.

"I actually do not prefer tea. It's to-" Battousai thought for a moment, "-_acrid _to my tastebuds, if I do say so myself. Besides," Battousai continued, walking past the trio toward the center of the room, which would lead to a corridor that lead the dimly lit room upstairs, "we really must get down to business. I insist for your daughter's health."

"Yes, of course," Kana replied, entirely understanding the doctor's professional, if not cryptic, behavior. She remained standing behind him, while he continued to face toward the stairwell as their spectators sat and waited.

"You can begin by telling me about the patient... How old is she?"

"She had recently turned seventeen this spring."

"Yes... And how is her diet? Is she eating correctly?"

"Kaoru always ate properly, every meal of the day. But recently, she can't keep anything down if she even manages to swallow..."

"I see," Battousai began. "Tell me, when did you first notice a change in your daughter's health? Was she acting peculiar up to the point of her serious ailment?"

"Well," Kana started, trying to rekindle her memory of the events that had seemed so recent - were recent - just a few weeks prior, "I guess - I guess I first noticed a change when she stopped eating. Like I told you, she rarely skipped out on a meal, and when she started eating less and less each day...

"Then she started missing her daily chores more. I scolded her the first few times, but she said that she had been growing very tired lately for no reason at all. I failed to believe her still; I thought she was faking to get out of chores. But then I noticed her constant coughing, and she complained of chest pains while working."

_Hmph. The classic telltale warning signs of consumption, _Battousai concluded. _All she needs to tell me is the hemoptysis..._

"And?..." Battousai led on. "Were there any other symptoms?"

Kana and the two other hesitated at the predicament that caused their Kaoru to suffer such. Finally, Kana spoke.

"...She started coughing up blood. Profusely. Kaoru has been on strict bed rest since she had a dizzy spell and collapsed. I've tried everything doctor, but she deteriorates a little each day. Nothing can revive her." Tears were starting to whelm in her eyes, and for a moment, Battousai reconsidered his plan to slay this family.

"And so you've come to me: a doctor that came from a far away village that you are not familiar with in order to treat something that could be the common cold... Why?" Battousai egged them on, yes. He needed to be sure of their final truth.

"Because," Kana started, this time less tearfully, "you are the only one who can rid of us the wretched curse that the crazed vampires have befallen on us!" she proclaimed with anger. "Those damned beasts are sucking the life out of my daughter with their devil craft!"

"Yes!" her sister spoke up. "They are the ones who have brought such pestilence upon us!"

"They must be exorcised of their wickedness; for the greater good of God's followers!"

The total shift of mood astounded Battousai by far. They would appear to be the kind, caring family that they appeared to be toward strangers - so long as the strangers where as deranged as they were. Who knows how mentally sick their daughter was. But that was all Battousai needed for an answer. These beings would clearly raise their children to speak such foolishness about the vampires; the werwolves; the faes; the entire unknown to the human eye. Twisting their minds with hideous lore that deemed all non-humans as agents of the Devil, it was people like Koushijirou's kin that would surely kill every innocent man, woman, and child - vampire or human - who stepped in their way.

And that line ended now.

"Very well then," Battousai said. "I have heard enough." Kana began to nod her head frantically, driven by her madness.

"So, doctor, what do you prescribe that we do for our Kaoru?"

Battousai then turned around, revealing his face and fangs to the household.

"Nothing but your deaths."

The entire village appeared silent that night, not a single mouse stirred in the dark residences. Battousai wondered if anyone heard their screams at all.

* * *

Battousai dropped the last body - the body of boy's mother - onto the ground with rest after he had finished cleaning up. The room was eerily cold, so smell of blood was dormant in the air. His victims lay on the floor, lifeless, drained of blood, eyes staring at nothing in fear. Battousai for a moment just looked at them emotionessly, like the wolf that had suffocated its prey with its powerful fangs. Then, Battousai kneeled down toward each of them, closing each of their eyelids forever.

"I am sorry that you had to be the victim of such bloodlust," he told them, expecting no answer in return. "But this has to stop. It all must stop. And it will stop-" Battousai's amberlit eyes shot toward the stairwell, "-after this one last victim."

One last victim.

One last frenzy.

The daughter: Kaoru.

Stealthfully stepping over each of the bodies, Battousai glided down the corridor and up the steep steps, taking off a piece of his costume as he descended the steps. Not a creak was heard from the floorboards. The upstairs corridor was dark, shadows seeming to lurch in every corner. A dim lit illuminating from under a door told him of his destination, and he made his way toward the daughter's room. Then he opened the door, again without sound, as he crept inside of the room. The only light in the room was that single candle, close to being extinguished, just like the life in the bed was. But where Battousai expected to lie a half dead skeletal creature, Battousai found quite the opposite:

A very beautiful, teenaged girl: pallor and thin from illness, but had unmarred skin that was once rich and creamy, long waist length ebony hair that once glistened in the sun, and a soft face that would have a vivid blush along the cheeks bones, and would have enjoyed smiling. He could only imagine what her eyes would look like if opened.

And for a moment, instead of a sickly girl, lying on her deathbed, Battousai saw his beloved Tomoe, merely sleeping in the dim candlelight.

His eyes widened an softened all at the same time. His heart tightened, and the stamina in his previous plan faltered. Could he really kill a being that was so beautiful, looked so much like his fallen Tomoe? Battousai for a moment hesitantly stepped forward.

There was only one way to find out.

Battousai stepped toward the bed, with the same affirmation that he had when he stepped in the household to confront the house. He sat at the edge, right by Kaoru. She was in a deathlike state, barely breathing. She was wearing a pure white night gown - or rather, it was once pure white, since Battousai could see the rusted blood stains on the linen. Battousai lifted his fingers, allowing them to glide ever so softly along her facial skin, to her lips. She did not rouse from her slumber, but released a sickly, involuntary moan at the touch. He dared to tear his gaze from her after touching such supple skin, hearing such a sound escaping from her lips, but he could not.

No; even if she was a tainted soul, he could not kill her. He could no repeat the death of his Tomoe in a million lifetimes. But what other options did Battousai have? Surely, the brutal death of his beautiful daughter would cause Koshijirou's blood to boil with insanity, possibly causing him to eat at his own sanity enough for him to be locked away forever at the sight of -

Battousai hadn't realized that the entire time he pondered this option he was staring at Kaoru's neck: her smooth, pale, slender, erotic, neck.

The perfect alternative hit Battousai as a dark smile broke upon his lips.

Yes. Killing Koshijirou's daughter was one thing.

But turning her into what he despised and feared most was quite another.

His plan decided, Battousai proceeded toward rousing Kaoru from her sleep.

"Kaoru. Kaoru. Wake up. It's the doctor. I'm here to help you."

His melodous voice completed the task of waking her body, but the first response was that of blood as she went through another coughing spell, droplets of blood blemishing her nightgown with fresh stains. The sight and smell of her blood, her sweet, young blood, enticed Battousai, but he carried on with his plan.

"Kaoru. Kaoru. Can you hear me? It's your doctor."

Finally, her eyes opened as her mind awoke. Revealed to him where shiny orbs of cerulean blue, the only life left in her body. Those were not comparible to Tomoe's eyes - which were darker than the night sky - on any level. Battousai didn't want to admit, but God - if Tomoe were with him today, she would have met her match.

"Oh," Kaoru said sleeply, sickly, as if she hadn't even noticed that she had just coughed up blood, "are you the doctor that my parents have sent for me?"

Despite that she was sick, her voice waning little by little, Kaoru's voice was like soft music.

"Yes. You may call me Kenshin," he said very politely, reverting to his first name.

A weak, pathetic, but whole-hearted smile graced her face at the news. "I'm so happy that you've finally come," she began, struggling to sit up by herself but to no avail. Battousai saw her pathetic struggle and brought his hands under her back to lean her up. He could feel the bones of her spine along her back. Even that twisted Battousai's stomach. "My parents have been so weary of the doctors in our village, probably from the whole paranoia that has been going around lately," she informed. Battousai scrutinized Kaoru's words, somewhat angered that her parents delayed in finding their daughter a proper doctor, but was skeptical. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she was beginning to sound like her hysterical family members.

That had to be dealt with.

"Kaoru," he began to ask in a gentle voice, "do you believe that you are with the 'vampire's curse'?"

"Wha? Do I think that I'm cursed?" she repeated the words to herself, trying to make sure that she heard them correctly. No doubt she was probably dizzy from just being awake. She finally got her thoughts straight, and answered: "Well, I might be... I mean, it's possible since so much is going around. But that's what everyone keeps telling me, that I'm inflicted with the vampire's curse. I don't know any better, so I suppose that my parents must be right about this sort of thing." She began to cough, little droplets of blood falling in her palm, but she continued. "All I know is that I've been sick for so long, and that I just want to get better is all."

A harsher cough escaped her lips at her last words. It strained her to talk, he could tell. But for the first time in so long, Battousai let a sincere smile grace his lips as his eyes softened. _This girl, with such twisted parentage and a hysteria-filled upbringing, just wants to get better, _he thought to himself as he allowed his hands to rub her back soothingly, hoping to relieve some of her pain. _She has not been tainted. _

"Kaoru," Battousai said softly and soothingly, "you must listen to me if you wish to be free of the vampire's curse. Are you willing to do that?"

Kaoru weakly nodded. "Anything to quell the worries of my parents."

A twinge was felt in the depths of his heart. Was that guilt greeting him again?

"Then I shall take you away Kaoru, far from here. I'll take you to a place that is quieter than the hustle of the village, with clean fresh air, and the stars and moon will be the only light that will calm your healing heart; the sun and village lights will strain you far too much and we must ensure your speedy recovery, right? That is what I shall do for you. Will you allow me too?"

Kaoru began to nod, but stopped. She looked so sad at that moment. "I love the country. My family and I would go on outings to the countryside long ago, when I was little. I- I don't want to leave my parents behind."

Battouai gulped as guilt began to eat at his heart again. It was a shame that such a pure girl had to be born to such parents, although they clearly loved her, in a more fanatical way than usual.

"I know Kaoru," he said, holding her face between his hands - she was growing so cold. "I know that it will be hard to be without your parents, but they insisted in this plan, so then you'll have a speedy recovery and you will be better again."

He allowed Kaoru to decided, giving her all of the time in the world while the truth remained with him only: the dead truth that her mother was dead and her father would soon be driven to the grave by his madness.

Finally, she decided.

"Okay, Doctor Kenshin," she said in between coughs. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," Battousai said with a smile. Now his final plan could be enacted.

"Now Kaoru," he started, "you must do something for me in preparation of your departure. We will have to leave tonight."

"Tonight?" Kaoru asked trying to get her tone higher to express her surprise. "On such short notice? I don't know Doctor Kenshin..."

"Ah ah!" he interrupted, bring his index finger to her lips. "Remember that you must listen to me. Do not worry: no harm will come on you. I will keep you safe. All you must do is one thing for me, Kaoru."

"Okay," Kaoru said hesitantly. "What must I do?"

"Look into my eyes," Kenshin said seductively, as he bore his amber-lit gaze into her deep pools. "Do not look away, only gaze into my eyes. Only them."

Kaoru couldn't tell what exactly was going on. All she did was what Doctor Kenshin told her to, and everything became blurry, every thought, every sound, very picture. Her eyes glazed over as she continued to stare into Battousai's eyes, until he saw that she was fully hypnotized.

"Give me your neck," Battousai darkly commanded her. With no will over her mind or body, Kaoru exposed her neck to Battousai, peeling the gown from her shoulder just above her breast. Grabbing her from behind, pulling her body close to his, Battousai sunk his fangs in her suculent neck, and began to drink. Her blood was so delicious, so sweet and youthful. He wouldn't have been surprised if her blood was needed in some elixar of immortal youth. The sensuous, feel of her blood slipping down his throat sent chills up and down his body. Soon he had to stop, to prevent himself from being caught in the moment and drinking her until she was dry. He tore himself away from her neck, licking the residual blood from the wound. It would heal soon. Leaning her back some, Battousai unbuttoned his white yoke, exposing his chest to her and then cutting a clean line across his breast.

"Drink," he commanded again.

Kaoru languidly dipped down toward his chest and latched on, lapping the blood from the wound. Battousai held her head in place to prevent her from tearing away, in case her subconcious told her to do so, though he found it impossible. No one could resist his hypnosis.

If Battousai thought the feeling of drinking from Kaoru was erotic, the feeling of her lips on his chest, drinking his blood, was sex in another form altogether. He resisted releasing a groan as he felt each tablespoon drain from his body into hers. But he also felt ashamed, deeply ashamed. Here was Battousai: avenging his wife's death by being aroused while transforming the heratic's daughter into a vampire. He tried not to think it, but he could easily see them doing this for an eternity. But would Tomoe ever forgive him?

"Enough," Battousai ordered, pulling Kaoru away from his chest. "Sleep now, peacefully, until the third dusk."

And then Kaoru closed her eyes, and went into the true deathlike state of the vampire's sleep. Her breathing ceased as her last human breath escaped from her lips. She was dead, on the human scale. But death was only the beginning, for Battousai could sense the changes going on inside of her as the slow transformation began to take place.

He then took her lifeless form wholely into his arms, craddling her while carressing her face. Battousai then leaned down to kiss her forhead, an action he didn't even realize he initiated. He then stared at her with remorse in his somber, amber eyes.

"I am deeply sorry for, slaying your family," he apologized to her in secret. The apologies would mean nothing, of course, since not one person he apologized to that night was alive and listening. Maybe he was just making himself feel better for doing such a crime that he felt was forced to commit, but he truely wanted forgiveness one day. _I promised to never kill again after this night, _he reminded himself, _I will keep to that promise forever more. But, if Kaoru were to find out, what will happen then? _Not having forgiveness from her, seemed, improbable, even after knowing her for a mere twenty minutes. Kaoru was one in a million, the one flower that survived the turmoil of a swarm of crazed locust. She had a pure and gentle heart. But could a heart so pure ever forgive the person who murder her family?

_I suppose when that day comes, I will find out, _Battousai concluded, almost without emotion. When Kaoru would find out, he did not know. He would not tell her in fear of trauma. At least, not anytime soon.

_But I assure you, Kaoru, that I will give you the best of a life, the one I shared with Tomoe. And even though you may just be an instrument for revenge at the moment- _he kissed her on the lips softly -_someday, I will come to love you. As you will me._

With his secret vow imprinted on his heart, Battousai proceeded to picking up Kaoru bridal style, leaving her deathbed behind.

* * *

The image of Koshijirou formed in the fog, running from the direction of the forest his posse enter just two hours earlier. Pants came harshly from his lungs has he ran toward his home frantically. Anger and distress filled his thoughts as he ran on.

_I thought I had them! _he Koshijirou thought to himself. _We were so close. How did they know we were coming?! _

The posse thought that this was there night of victory, that the damned ones would fall to their feet and were at the foot of the mountain, nearing the village. They could see it in plain view. Lights were flickering on in their homes, but, something was eerily wrong. For houses to be lit - the dwellings of vampires - and to have no activity was quite suspicious. At first, they were unsure if anybody was occupying the village, but then Kouji - Koshijirou's brother and second-in-command of his deeds - spotted a figure in the window, that of a child. It was just a sillohuete, but it had the stature of a four year old child. Surely its mother was present, so the village must have been occupied. The beasts must have been hiding, and the brat had gotten away from its mother. Perfect. They were all where they wanted them, like cattle in a pin. All they had to do was torch the whole settlement and rid the world of these bloodsuckers.

But, why wasn't the child moving? Shouldn't have his mother taken him from the window to hide him away? He was just standing there, watching them, like he was a...

Diversion.

Before the could have even stepped over the threshold into the village, A muffled scream was heard from the outside of the mob. The man was dragged my disembodied hands from the woods and pulled into the darkness, where his screams went silent.

Then it happened. All around them, twenty - maybe thirty - vampire men came from the woods, surrounding them. Bloodlust was written on each of their faces, but not that of a crazed feeding frenzy. It was the kind of bloodlust that one initiated out of revenge and defense. The posse had encrouched on their territory, tried to destroy their existance, for the last time. One man stood out against the rest: he was tall and brooding, blue eyes that could have been made of aqua ice. No emotion lay in his eyes, but a promise was in them: death.

At that moment, the men knew how deeply they had gotten themselves into. They thought it brave and valient to pick off the weak vampires, the ones that could not defend themselves onces separated. But when faced with full grown males, their true, pitiful image was revealed. These men were the common coward: acting tough with brutes but sought escape when faced with something stronger. So when they saw the vampires approach them silently, with no mood or sound, the men begged for mercy, for they knew of the death that would befall them.

All except for Koshijirou.

_"Don't give into their demonic trickery men!" _he howled. _"They put this fear into your hearts to hide their weakness of soldiers of the Lord! Prepare yourselves!" _He directed at his crew and the vampires that he was sure that would fall. Neither side moved, however, until five men could not take it, and darted for the woods. All it took was one vampire, who slowly turned and walked into the darkness after them, to reduce them to screams, and then silence.

_"Fools!" _he spat in his comrades' stupidity. They were weak and cowardly. Perhaps they deserved what was coming to them. He would not let them stand in his path to glory.

_"Well, men, attack!" _he directed them. But it was no use. All of the men were frozen solid in place, to terrified to move, paralyzed with fear. They knew what was going to happen, so why bother fighting? Still, Koshijirou persisted, even if his cowardly brother was one of them.

_"Fine, you _idiots_!" _Koshijirou seethed between his teeth, fumbling in his coat for a stake. _"You can all _rot_, for all I care! I shall be the one who brings on the Lord's punishment onto these fiends. I will-"_

He cut off his own words as the tall vampire man approached him, towering over him. He came within inches of him, so Koshijirou could have staked the vampire right there. But he could feel the overwhelming power pouring off of this man. So overwhelming was the feeling of vengence and deceit that it caused Koshijirou himself to tremble, causing him to drop the stake from his hands.

The blue-eyed man spoke his harbinger: _"The Lord spoke of a Judgement Day. And yours has come tonight."_

It was all a blur at first. He was sure that the blue-eyed man would kill him, but he merely slapped him toward the ground, picked at the nearest man, and proceeded to biting him. The other vampires followed, grabbing the nearest victim and taking them to the neck. Some of them bite, some of them slashed. Others stalked their running prey into the woods. In the end, half of the men feel right there, the others vanished into the woods. Soon, all that was left was Koshijirou, surrounded by the bodies of his fallen brotherhood, and the tall, blue-eyed man, who stared down at him with dead eyes. Surprisingly, he instead turned around, proceeding toward the village where two other equally tall men waited at the entrance.

For a moment, Koshijirou shivered and wondered why he was left alive out of all of his men. The words of the blue-eyed vampire echoed in his mind:

_"The Lord spoke of a Judgement Day. And yours has come tonight."_

It hit Koshijirou then that those words were directed at him, meaning...

After that, he began to run as fast as his feet would take him to his home where his wife and daughter stayed, along with his sister-in-law and nephew. How could he have left them open so blindly, on the night that he vowed to take the vampire clan down? His arrogance would be the death of his family if he did not get there in time. His brother was lost in the frenzy; all he had left in the world were Kana and Kaoru.

As he rounded the corner, Koshijirou tripped on a log-like object on the ground. Why would a log be in the middle of the street so aimlessly at night. He felt with his hands around him, only to discover that it wasn't a log or stick or any of the sort. It was the leg of the spiritual man that he had sent to cure his daughter. And he was dead. Right beside the alley of his house. His outer garments and medical bag were missing from the scene. This was not good at all. Koshijirou stumbled frantically to his feet, carrying himself to the final steps toward his house were his family's future rest.

At the door which remained closed, Koshijirou kicked it open,

only to have his entire body fill with terror at the sight.

His dearly beloved wife, with her sister and her nephew, were dead, cold, and eaten, the clear and evident marks of the vampire's fangs on their throats. There was hardly a sign of struggle: a turned over table and a broken chair were all that was left of their fight. None of them even made it to the door. Koshijirou feel to the cold, hard floor with a thud, having been paralyzed at the sight before him. He pathetically began to crawl toward the body of his wife, who laid face up. There was no countenance of fear on any of their faces: they were just so cold. Koshijirou gathered his wife into his arms, and wept, mumbling nonsense words that a child spoke when their mother would not wake and tracing lines around her face, hoping that she would feel his touch and wake from her sleep. But she would never rise again, for he knew that the damned vampire who did this would not turn her. Her sweet, tender face would never smile again, the face that she passed onto their beloved child...

"Kaoru!" Koshijirou shouted as realization hit setting Kana's body down, Koshijirou rushed up the stairs toward his sickly daughter's room. He at first hope that there was a chance that the beast missed Kaoru, though it was unlikely since they had taken the medicine man's utensils, knowing his intentions. Koushijirou just hoped against hope that they had spared Kaoru, his beautiful, kindly daughter, who did no real crime except succumb to her ailment and be born of his blood.

As Koshijirou opened the door, he knew something was wrong. The candlelight that was constantly lit in her room was extinguished. Koshijirou opened the door and prepared himself for what was to come.

He opened the door, and saw that no body was in her daughters bed.

Koshijirou didn't know whether to become more horrified or to just faint there. Where was she? Where was his daughter? Had the vamp dragged her out of bed just to devour her in some cold and damp dungeon, to ravage her without mercy? Again there was no sign of struggle: it appeared that the vampire had simply lifted her from her bed and wisked her away. But to where?

As if it was a premonition, an ominious wind blew outward toward the open window in her room, outside on the house's landing. Koshijirou followed without thought, down the steps and onto the landing facing the fence, where he saw the sillohuete of a figure - two on closer inspection - perched on a pole. As his sight adjusted to the night and as the sliver of the moon appeared from amidst the clouds, he saw that the taller figure as his arch-nemesis, whom he had come to know as Battousai. The second figure, to his sheer horror, was his daughter, Kaoru, limp in the vamp's arms. She looked cold and dead, but not mutilated like her mother, aunt, and cousin; rather, her nightgown was intact (though the blood stains where still there), and there were no marks on her pale skin. Still, Kaoru looked dead and was in the arms of the vampire, and what enraged Koshijirou more was that the monster was holding her so - _protectively?_

"Koshijirou," Battousai started with a somewhat devilish smirk, "did you enjoy your present?" His face turned acid. "I hope you were as thrilled to recieve my present as I was to recieve yours."

Koshijirou spat. "Battousai, you King of Devils!" he shouted. "I did what I had to: the Lord sent me to cast down his judgement on your people and your ill-breed ways! I was only doing what was holy! But my family did not deserve this!"

Battousai cut him off before he could spit out more infuriating bilge. He hissed, "Neither did Tomoe! She was more pure and gentle than your wife who spat the same foolishness up until her last breath!" Stricking a nerve on Koshijirou's part, Battousai smirked within him, but kept his face acidic and fierce. He took one deep breath. "You have no one to blame other than yourself, Koshijirou. I, as well as my people, have tried to keep our distance from you, but you persisted. The events that followed were the consequences."

They just stood silently looking at each other as the lonely wind swept through them. It was when Koshijirou noticed Battousai's grip on Kaoru's body change as he shifted her more comfortably on his side. Koshijirou began to look up with quivered, frightened eyes.

"What do you intend to do with her?" he asked quietly and sullenly. "Surely, my Kaoru does not deserve such a death like her mother, mere food for your meal."

For a split second, Battousai felt a twinge of remorse for the feeble man. At least he had a light enough heart to love his daughter, even if he was a maniacal killer at heart.

"Kaoru is going to be fine," Battousai informed him. At that, he saw a small bit of hope reenter Koshijirou's eyes as he looked up with wide eyes. "She is cured of all of her ailments, and she will wake soon." He could tell that Koshijirou was going to shout with joy and start grovelling at his feet, and at this, Battousai sneered.

"But," he began, "Kaoru is not _your _daughter anymore.

"She belongs to me, and the night."

Battousai could only sneer viciously at the sight of all of Koshijirou's blood leaving his face. That glint of hope was extinguished immediately when the finally revelation entered his thoughts:

His daughter, his precious Kaoru, was a vampire.

Koshijirou gapped his mouth in terror and disbelief. He had wanted to say something, but could he really? What would he, could he, say, if he even had a voice? Battousai, on the other hand, took the silence as a cue to taunt his foe.

"So Koshijirou," he began, as if he were about to discuss the weather on that night, "how does it feel like to have your entire family slaughter except for your daughter, who was turned into your own, worse enemy?"

Koshijirou just stood like a zombie.

"Kaoru and I: God, we have such a long life ahead of us, together. As soon as she wakes, she'll feed from my vein the blood she needs to thrive. When she is strong enough, I'll teach her how to take just enough blood from her prey to not kill them, and we will strengthen our bond by feeding from each other." He stopped to caress the smooth, silky skin of her cheek, down to her clavicle and then looked up with a malicious smile. "And I will enjoy touching her swan-like neck, her rich creamy skin, every night, when we make love."

Koshijirou continue to stand, lifeless, thoughtless, almost as if he was about to cry. But he just stood, a man long since dead. Battousai was satisfied to see that his enemy of so long had his spirit broken and shattered.

"It is done Koshijirou," Battousai announced at last. "This war, this slaughter, is over, tonight. No more of your men will die at our hands, and you will never hear from us again. We will return to the shadows, where we belong."

Before he left, the sliver of a heart that Battousai had shared with all men as Kenshin came out, as he said these last words to Koshijirou.

"I can only promise you that your daughter will have a far better life with our kind, than in the hands of a maniac who put her life on the line for his own goals. No harm will ever befall Kaoru again. Farewell, Koushijirou." And with that, Battousai engulf both he and Kaoru's bodies in his black coat, and they were gone from the post, never to be seen again. All that was left was the wind, the looming clouds, and a husk.

And with his family gone, his goals and ambitions ruined, and his spirit broken, all that was left of Koshijirou was his sanity: and it was long since gone when the man howled with the wind and wallowed in the pit of misery that his actions had lead him to.

* * *

A/n:

Oh joy. Another vamp fic. Don't get me wrong of course, I loved writing this. I first started this fic while watching an episode of Monster Quest (on the History Channel) about vampires. I learned a great deal about the two historical figures (one of them, of course, was Vlad the Impaler) - as well as the mass hysteria that went on in New England one or two hundred years ago - that inspired Bram Stoker and his novel "Dracula". One figure in particular interested me the most - Elizabeth Bathory, a countess from Hungary during the 12th century or so. But she wasn't reknowned for her nobility. Rather, she is infamously referred to as, "the Blood Countess." I have some juicey ideas that I am planning on adding to my series focusing on Kenji involving a figure that will be inspired by her, so stick tight until then. After all, I have to finish the semi-prequel twin-shot first.

So historically, this was inspired by the mass hysteria that went around in New England, about a "vampire's curse". To make a long story - consisting of quacks and the such - short, the villagers in some New England villages confused a common and natural event - in this case, tuberculosis and the death that suceeds it - with that of a supernatural event - the corpses are rising from their graves and taking the energy of the living(!) And so, something much like the Salem Witch Trials happened.... Except that persecuted and "cleansed" people were already dead, and they'd do all sorts of crazy stuff with the corpses. In the end, people still died, so, go paranoia. Other inspirations came from "Dracula" and Christine Feehan's Carpathian Dark series (they're not Carpathians though. Just vampires with morals).

I got a little bit of the speech tecniques from reading "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, and the scenario not only reminded me of "Dracula", but also of the whole Jack the Ripper scare during the Victorian Era. A mysterious cloaked figure walkind down an empty street, appears to be a normal gentlemen, but is a killer in disguise. *shiver*

Just a tidbit (in case I incidently forgot) this takes place in a remote Romanian village, near the Carpathian Mountains, the birthplace of the vampire legends.

Anywho, that's what got me going to write this one-shot. Yeah, I'm sorry but this is going to be another one of those "one-shots-that-shoulda-been-a-series-but-the-author-just-wrote-it-on-a-spur-of-the-moment" things, so this is all folks. Sorry. Like I said with the rest, just stay tuned for my other one-shots and updates.

Also, "hemoptysis" is the medical term used when one is coughing up blood; not to be confused with vomiting up blood, which is refered to as "hematemesis".

And one more thing.....

Mammatus is a cloud.

The kind that look like boobs.

Seriously though, that's what they were named after. You know, _mammary _glands - breasts.

....Okay I'm a pervert.

But I chose it because they're the kind of clouds that you see on one of those forbodding autumn nights during rainstorms. Of course, I guess they're purplish because of the city lights, but whatever.

Just look it up.

Actually, ONE more thing (for real).

I was intending to distribute this on October 31st, a.k.a. Halloween, since it is a horrorish fic. But, I was in Chicago at my sister's place, and I couldn't access the internet ony my laptop, so I couldn't post this. And now, I'm posting this on Election Day....

...So....

Haaaaaaaapy Election-ween!

Woo!

(Now I have to go and write five essays for my Environmental Concepts class for tomorrow. Cya.)


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